Wheels are moving on possible plans to refurbish and strengthen the Basin Reserve's iconic Museum Stand.
It's future will be debated by the Wellington City Council next week.
The stand has been vacant, closed to the public, since 2012 after engineering reports listed it as just 23 per cent of the new building regulations. It has to be demolished or upgraded by 2022.
It has the cricket museum underneath it and used to house the players' dressing rooms and viewing areas as late as the mid 1970s.
The cost ranges from $7.4 million to $11m, and all options include strengthening the roof to 100 per cent of NBS.
The recommended option is $7.76m, which will strengthen the building to 50 per cent of code. The funding will come from a reprioritisation of the Basin Reserve Redevelopment budget, meaning no new money is needed.
The expected cost to Council will be $6.7m with the Basin Reserve Trust contributing $1m.
The plans will return the main entrance, staircase and exterior to the original condition, upgrade the stand's public toilets and add two new accessible toilets.
There will be space for the Cricket Museum and Cricket Wellington offices.
"I'm thrilled to announce that we are going to be making a decision on the future of this iconic Wellington landmark," Wellington Mayor Justin Lester said today.
"We want to retain the Basin Reserve's place as the premier cricket ground in New Zealand and celebrate the heritage of cricket.''
Lester said cricket commentator Bryan Waddle's mother used to serve "famously spartan" lunches to the players in the stand of one boiled potato, some ham and lettuce.
"An awful lot of heritage has taken place here at the Museum Stand."
The Museum Stand was opened in 1925, at a cost of $1.6 million in today's money. The stand is a category 2 Heritage Listed building, the first sports ground to be recognised in that way.
It became known as the Museum stand when the New Zealand Cricket Museum opened in 1987.
While Lester was initially in favour of demolishing the stand, believing it to only have a potential lifespan of about 15 years, two more engineering reports revealed that with earthquake strengthening the stand could have a lifespan of at least 50 more years.
The cost of the strengthening is budgeted for in the council's Long Term Plan, which Lester said has received 77-80 per cent supportive feedback so far.
That budget includes a $24 million investment in the Basin Reserve over the next 10 years.
The city council will vote on the stand's future on May 17.